NEWARK, N.J. -- The Penguins' primary focus, quite understandably, is on their game against New Jersey tonight at 7:08 at Prudential Center.
But with the NHL trade deadline closing in -- it's set for 3 p.m. Monday -- it's inevitable that some guys' thoughts have drifted in that direction.
There's no guarantee that the Penguins will make any moves before the deadline; Ron Hextall has spoken of his desire to add a physical forward, but acknowledged that limited salary-cap space and a small number of assets with which to deal could hamstring his efforts to work out a deal.
He might be willing to part with a left-handed defenseman, because the Penguins are particularly deep there. If so, Marcus Pettersson might appeal to some prospective trading partners.
Hextall also has insisted that he'd be content to go into the stretch drive and playoffs with his current roster, especially if the Penguins can get reasonably healthy.
Still, even though major turnover is unlikely for the Penguins, there invariably will be some stressful moments for players until the deadline passes.
"It's always an anxious time for players leading up to the trade deadline," Mike Sullivan said after the Penguins' game-day skate. "That's just the reality of the world that we all live in. ... All of these players are human beings. They have emotions and they have feelings, so it's always and anxious time.
"It's just part of the business. Everybody deals with it in different ways. ... My advice has always been to the players to 'Control what you can. You can't worry about what you can't (control). All you can do is to control those things that are within your power.' "
Anything Hextall does seems unlikely to involve the Penguins' core players, so first-iine left winger Jake Guentzel probably doesn't have to worry about being in play.
Even so, he recognizes that there will be guys changing teams, regardless of whether the Penguins are involved.
"You know things are going to change (around the league)," he said. "It's the business side of the game, sometimes, that trades are going to happen. You try not to worry about it too much. You just try to stick to the games, and you never know what could happen."
MORE FROM TODAY:
• Tristan Jarry will start in goal for the Penguins.
• Center Teddy Blueger, who has missed the past 13 games because of an unspecified upper-body injury, will be a game-time decision, Sullivan said.
• Winger Anthony Angello, who missed the past three games because of an unspecified upper-body injury, participated in the game-day skate but will not play tonight.
• Sullivan said that center Evgeni Malkin is continuing to skate in Pittsburgh, but that injured wingers Kasperi Kapanen and Brandon Tanev have not yet gotten on the ice.
• The Devils are in rebuilding mode and traded two prominent veterans, Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri, to the New York Islanders last week. That means the New Jersey team the Penguins are facing now is different from the one they played earlier, but Guentzel warned the the Devils still are dangerous. "They're young, with a lot of speed. They're just playing fast. Sometimes, when you have those young guys that play like that, it's hard to play against. ... We just have to be better tonight. We know that."
• Sullivan described the Mike Matheson-Cody Ceci and Pettersson-John Marino defense pairings as "a fairly balanced group and we feel like we can play them against anyone."
